Shelter
by Zayren Heart
Summary: They knew that she should have stayed behind, with them.  With their sparklings.  But things don't always turn out to be okay.  Sometimes, things take a turn for the worst. Sunny/OC/Sides One-Shot for Mercedes Wolfcry. R&R


Shelter

Transformers

One Shot

Sideswipe/OC/Sunstreaker

**0-0-0**

_See I could spend forever here and never wanna stop__  
><em>_Cause baby you are making my day_

_Don't tell me what it takes my dear to keep you in one spot__  
><em>_I'm crazy good at finding a way_

_For all of my days I'll be brave I'll be stronger__  
><em>_And always keep a hand on my pride_

_Cause if I build it with care it will last that much longer__  
><em>_I'll always give you somewhere to hide__  
><em>

**0-0-0**

A proud new mother stood watch over her newborn sparklings. She had had twins. _Twins_ of all things. Of course, considering who the fathers were, it wasn't that big of a surprise. Speaking of, two arms, one red and one yellow, wrapped around her waist.

"Hey Strider, how are they?" Sideswipe asked his sparkmate. Nightstrider turned her head towards them, a smile on her face.

"They're doing good. Little things are _finally_ asleep," she said with a groan. Like most newborns, Rogue and Nightlife hadn't wanted to sleep when the femme tried to get them too. They certainly held up to their given names, that was for sure.

"We would have helped, but Boss Bot put us out on patrol," Sunstreaker said, nuzzling her faceplates. The darkly coloured femme laughed lightly and leaned back into their hold.

"I know you would have. It couldn't be helped." In fact, the new fathers had almost exploded in rage when Optimus Prime had told them that they were to go on patrol. The twins had protested vehemently, saying that Strider still needed them to be with her and the sparkling twins so that she could rest. It was only on their sparkmates orders that they went and did their jobs. She had needed the break.

"And now he wants _you_ of all people to go to the landing site," Sides said with a scowl. Jazz had seen four incoming signals, and Optimus had chosen a few bots to go with them to the landing site to greet them. Or fight, if they were Decepticons. Nightstrider had been elated – she was feeling claustrophobic in her room with the sparklings, and her processor could definitely use the break.

"Sweetsparks," she started, turning their faces towards her, "I _want_ to go. I am _going_ to go. Papa trusts in my abilities to fight if it comes to that, why can't you?"

"But what about the sparklings?" Sides protested. "You're their femme creator."

"Yes, and you _both_ are their mech creators. They're not just _my_ responsibility," she retorted, optics narrowing in a glare. The twins backed away, holding their hands up.

"We don't mean it like that," Sunstreaker said.

"Yeah, we just don't want anything to happen to you!" Sideswipe told her, his optics pleading for her to understand. She sighed and crossed her servos across her chassis.

"Well it won't. You guys know me! I'll just rip off their interface rod if they try anything," she smirked, flexing the claws on her toes threateningly. The mechs flinched at the mere mention of it, unconsciously crossing their hands in front of their bodies.

Nightstrider laughed at them, and the tension that had been growing in the room dissipated instantly. The three went back to admiring their daughters in silence.

**0-0-0**

Optimus Prime stood in front of a few of his best soldiers, and his daughter. Jazz, Ironhide, Ratchet and Nightstrider were waiting – mostly impatient – for him to give the order to move out. Finally, he issued his catchphrase, "Roll out!" and the five bots transformed into their respective vehicle modes and sped out of the hangar, going to where the newest arrivals to Earth were supposed to be landing. When they got to the site, they were shocked to see that the new arrivals had, in fact, _arrived_, but the craters they had made were empty. The Autobots quickly transformed.

"Optimus, something isn't right," Ironhide said, his cannons coming to life. Nightstrider fell in beside her father.

"What do you want us to do, Papa?" she asked him, looking at their surroundings closely.

"Autobots, be careful. Sweep the perimeter for any traces our fellow Cybertronians may have left," the Prime ordered. The four nodded and split off in different directions. Nightstrider kept her weapon up and charged, ready for any attack. What she wasn't ready for was to be pounced on from behind.

"What the frag?" she shouted, spinning around to dislodge her attacker. Crouching down in a fighting stance, she narrowed her optics at the offender. "Decepticon…" she muttered. The 'Con laughed in her face.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? A little _femme_," he growled before pulling up his plasma cannon and shooting at her. Nightstrider dodged in a roll and hid behind a tree as she shot her own attack back at him.

"_Papa, we have a situation!_" she shouted over the comm. link. Her father's reply was immediate.

"_What is it, Nightstrider?"_

"_We got 'Cons!"_ She dodged another blast, running behind another tree as she waited for her dad to answer.

"_Hold you own, we're on our way,"_ he reassured her. In the distance, she could hear powerful engines growling.

"Come out, come out little femme! Don't you want to play?" The Decepticon provoked. The dark femme growled in anger and jumped out from her place behind the creep, shooting relentlessly at the weak armor on his back. The 'Con growled in anger as he spun around.

"I'm _not_ a fragging little femme!" Nightstrider yelled as she leaped at him, attaching herself with her claws and digging at the sensitive wires underneath his armor.

"Fragging little glitch!" he snarled and pushed his weapon into a space of her armor, firing it off randomly.

She froze as the pain registered. A deep, burning pain right next to her spark. She could hear the twin's surprised shouted leaking through their bond, but she could do nothing to respond to them. As she fell to the ground, the only things she could hear were the cackling of the Decepticon, and the anguished roar of her father.

Optimus Prime tackled the dark proto-form that had shot his daughter and quickly offlined him, crushing his spark unmercifully. He turned around to see Ratchet already at work on the new mother. "How is she?" He asked. The medic looked up at him with sad optics and shook his head.

"I'm afraid there's nothing I can do, Prime. The blast went off right next to her spark, and it shattered. She has a few hours, at most," he said, his voice almost monotone. But the leader could hear the anguish that he was hiding. Jazz and Ironhide could only look on silently. Both had lost many comrades and friends due to the war, but both could agree that this might be the worst. A new mother, leaving both her sparkmates and her children behind, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.

**0-0-0**

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were at the doors waiting for them when the group returned. As soon as they saw their sparkmate in the arms of her father, they knew immediately that something was very, very wrong.

"Ratchet, what's wrong with her?" Sunstreaker demanded, stepping in front of the medic. Ratchet sighed and shook his head.

"She got hit by a Decepticon, and the shot went off right next to her spark. I'm sorry, but…It shattered. There's nothing I can do." With that, he walked off to the med bay to busy himself. Sideswipe fell to his knees, making soldiers around him duck for cover. Will Lennox came running up to the group.

"How did it…" he trailed off as he saw the dejected looks on the twins faces. Looking up at Optimus, he saw Nightstrider's body resting in his arms. "What happened?" he demanded. Ironhide quickly took him in his hand to explain. The twins didn't need to hear it again.

"Sideswipe, Sunstreaker," Optimus said, making them look up at him. Both bots had Energon tears streaming down their faceplates, making his spark break a little more. He held his daughter's body out towards them. "She has a few hours left, they should be spent with you," he said tearfully as his own sparkmate sped around the corner, only to stop dead at the sight of her adopted daughter limp in the arms of Sunstreaker.

"Optimus," she started, but was stopped when he put his hand up. She quickly went over to him as the twins took Nightstrider to their room. "What happened?"

"I fear that," he took a deep breath to clear out his systems, "I fear that we may lose our daughter tonight." With that, Elita and the Prime both broke down, crumpling down to the floor in despair. Soldiers around them could do nothing but watch with serious faces. They knew that the base would be melancholy for a while after that tragedy.

Sides and Sunny carefully set Nightstrider down on the wide berth the trio shared. Her optics flickered to life, the blue coloring dim as she stuggled to speak.

"Sides…Sunny," she said, her optics leaking tears that left streaks of brilliant blue down her face. The twins each grabbed a hand.

"We're here, Strider," Sides whispered, his vocal processor choking with emotion.

"We're not going to leave you, sweetspark," Sunny added, stroking her hand gently.

"Nightlife, Rogue, where are they? They're okay, right?" she asked worriedly. The red mech nodded.

"They're fine, baby. We didn't let anything happen to them."

"Good, 'cause I would have to k-kick your aft…" she trailed off, her breathing becoming labored. Sides cracked a smirk, his optics watering up. "I'm not gonna make it this time, am I?" she asked. The looks on her mates' face told her all she needed to know. Nodding, she sighed. "At least I went out fighting…"

An hour passed in silence. The three stayed in the same position as they shared their love for each other through the bond, embracing it. At one point, Sunstreaker had gone to get his daughters, bringing them in so that they could see their mother one last time. As if they knew that this moment was sacred, no tears or wails left them as they sat as a family, together for the last time.

"You guys had better not leave them all alone," Nightstrider croaked out. She could feel her spark starting to fade. Nightlife started to cry, her twin following shortly after. "It's okay, little sparks," Strider spoke softly. "Mama's going to be going to the Well of the Sparks now," she placed her hands on each of their little helms. "We'll meet again one day. I promise." With that said, she looked into her distraught sparkmates' eyes for the last time, before she placed a smile on her face and her optics dimmed. She was gone.

**0-0-0**

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had a hard time after the death of their sparkmate. The pain that shot through them with her death was crippling, leaving them in the med bay for long periods at a time. Lucky for them, Elita and Optimus were able to take care of the sparklings when that happened. Soon after, they got control of the pain, but they leaned on each other's bond more than ever.

Nightlife and Rogue, as if knowing what their fathers were going through, behaved surprisingly well. Occasionally, though, they would wake one of the twins during their recharge cycle.

"Sideswipe," Sunstreaker groaned. "It's your turn to care to the sparklings," he said as he rolled over and covered his audio receptors. Sideswipe sighed tiredly, but pulled himself out of bed.

"It's okay, dearspark…Daddy's here," the red mech whispered to Rogue as he picked her up and held her close to his spark. She quieted almost immediately. "You know, you look so much like your mother did," he told her. Bright blue eyes looked up at him innocently in wonder. "I'll be sure to tell you plenty of stories about her once you're older," he promised as he set her back down. The sparkling whirred in contentment as she fell back into recharge.

"Everything okay?" The yellow mech asked his twin as he got back onto their recharge berth. Sideswipe nodded as he yawned.

"Sunny, how are we going to do this?"

"Do what, 'Sides?" Sunny groaned as he tried to slip back into recharge.

"Raise twin sparklings. You remember how _we_ were when we were younglings…And they're _femmes_ too."

"We'll find a way. We have too. For Nightstrider's sake, if no one elses."

As both mechs went back to dreamland, they knew. Even if they had problems to deal with, and arguments, and young-mech problems, they would get through it. They had to. Their little femmes were all they had left, now. And nothing, _nothing_, was going to take them away. They would make sure of it.


End file.
